Discussion

Jee Cee Neh - Korean - New Malden [London]

Another quick write up (which is more likely to mean that I type a huge amount of unedited content into a box and click "Post" rather than a few brief bullets. Sorry.)

Limster and I went down to New Malden for what turned out to be some fantastic Chow'ing (as evidenced via the Spicy Island post as well as through the fact that I have some delicious Korean snacks from Kimchi Garden in my fridge.) We found a number of interesting looking establishments, but we settled on Jee Cee Neh as it looked extremely busy, the menu was arguably more interesting and the interior was quite nice.

The banchan assortment came free of charge and was vastly superior to anything else I've had in New Malden. Standout items included very good kimchi which appeared to definitely be made in house as well as a great dish of crunchy pickled radish stems which appeared lightly pickled and intermixed with an extremely large number of fresh oysters. This dish was a great surprise and came free of charge. Very tasty with an oceanic brightness that was mellowed by a warm kimchi like background and the pleasant crunch of radish.

Janchi guksu had delicious wheat based vermicelli which could have done with a tiny bit less cooking, but which was win a lovely clear broth that was redolent of anchovy (likely dried / preserved) and seaweed. Very umami like broth and extremely pleasant overall.

Ssam (was about 1/3 the cost of what you'd pay anywhere fancy in Central London or NYC, but let's not even start) took roughly an hour for the restaurant to prepare, but it was a lovely dish overall once served. Unctuous slices of steamed pork belly came with an assortment of condiments, more of the oyster / radish banchan, napa for wraps, and other sides. The meat was delicious, although not particularly strong in flavor. Pleasantly textured and overall very enjoyable and great money for value, but primarily a "sum of it's parts" style dish as making your own perfect wrap of pork, raw garlic, fermented bean paste, chili pepper, and so on was the key.